ROLLA, Mo. – The winning streak for Missouri S&T's women's volleyball was extended to four games Friday as the Miners took both of their contests at the S&T Volleyball Tournament, downing Lake Superior State in three sets and holding off Union in a five-set match to finish the evening's proceedings at Gibson Arena.
S&T (4-2) won the match over Lake Superior State by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 27-25, then won the first two sets over Union 25-15 and 25-16 before the Lady Bulldogs took the next two by counts of 25-18 and 25-17 to force a fifth set, which the Miners won 15-7.
Miners 3, Lake Superior State 0
S&T wasted little time in jumping on the Lakers in the opening set, going up 7-2 to begin the match before LSSU came back with five straight points to even things up. The set was tied on two more occasions before the Miners went up for good at 18-71 on a kill by
Madelyn Mason (Mount Horeb, WI/Mount Horeb) that sparked a decisive 5-0 run. The Miners trailed for a portion of set two, but took the lead for good at 15-14 on another Mason kill and was able to keep the Lakers at bay to take the second set.
The Miners had work to do to take the final set of the match that featured eight ties and four lead changes. S&T had match point at 24-23, but the Lakers captured the next two points to give themselves a set point. However, the Miners got a block from
Hannah Feltz (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) to tie it at 25, then
Alina Carrillo (Oviedo, FL/Hagerty) finished the contest with a block and a kill.
Mason had 14 kills to lead the Miners, who hit .167 to LSSU's .059 mark. S&T also got seven blocks in the match – two apiece from
Shelby Ply (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and Mason – while
Meiko Pearson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) had 15 digs and
Annie Arand (Washington, MO/St. Francis Borgia) recorded 17 assists.
Miners 3, Union 2
The Miners appeared to be on their way to another straight set win after winning 25-15 and 25-16 in the first two sets, hitting .226 in the opening set and .317 in the second. However, the Miners' attack percentage dropped dramatically in the next two sets to allow the Lady Bulldogs to climb back into the match and send it into a fifth set.
S&T never trailed in either of the first two sets, leading by as many as nine points in the opener and as much as 10 in the second. But in set three, the Lady Bulldogs pulled away from the Miners in the latter stages of the set, outscoring S&T 13-6 after the match was tied at 12 and then led by as many as 10 in the fourth set.
The Miners came out in the fifth set by jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead to force a Union timeout. Union rallied back to get the set tied at seven, but a block by Mason gave S&T the lead before the teams switched sides and
Mia Alessio (Channahon, IL/Minooka) served the Miners to the finish. Alessio had one service ace in the run, which included four kills by Carrillo – the last two that ended up closing out the contest.
Mason led three Miners in double figures in the kill department with 16, while Ply added 13 and Carrillo 12.
Madison Offerman (Herscher, IL/Herscher) added five blocks – S&T had 11 in the match – while Pearson had 20 digs and
Elise Mehaffy (Marion, IA/Marion) had a team-high 25 assists.
Missouri S&T will wrap up play in the tournament Saturday when it hosts Kentucky Wesleyan at 4 p.m. at Gibson Arena.
